What were you doing 45 years ago today?

[steve82]

We didn't do duck and cover drills in my elementary school, they called them "tornado drills" instead. Watched some of the other space coverage from one of my Cub Scout friends' basement TV room. Their bomb shelter was enclosed off to the side, had food and provisions and stuff. His dad was an Air Force Reserve pilot and was convinced Russia was fixing to drop nukes on the midwest to destroy our corn crops and starve the world. He had these 16mm films he brought home from the air force showing red army parades and life in russia under communism. It was all get with the program-we were indoctrinated! Whenever somebody got shot trying to go over the Berlin Wall it was a reminder they were going to do the same to us. The memories of WWII were still too fresh in our parents' minds. <br />Interestingly, it was around this time, say early-60's, I found a copy of Gherman Titov's biography: "I Am Eagle." which my Dad read and thought was darn good book.

 

[spayss]

Henry: "If at distance x from a nuclear explosion you are almost certain to be dead, and at distance y you are almost certain to survive, it's plausible that at some intermediate radius, crouching under a desk might improve your chances a bit. "<br /><br />Actually it improves your chances a lot not only to survive but also to survive without serious injury or health issues. The vast majority of air strikes were not going to be on top of your house or school but over 5 miles away... quite survivable with proper response.<br /><br /> Saying duck and cover wouldn't have worked is like saying seatbelts are useless because if you have a head on collision with an 18 wheeler you're going to die anyways...but they can save your life and minimize serious injury in many of the other 99% of accidents. <br /><br /> In the military we trained through various nuclear war scenarios and the difference between serious burns, death from debris, blindless, lethal radiation sickness, and so on is little more than a variation on duck and cover.<br /><br />

 

[trailrider]

On the night Gagarin flew, I was in my dorm room, during my freshman year of college. It was about 1:00 AM EST (who can recall exactly), and I heard about the launch during the news...I think on WGN, Chicago. About two hours later (I was pulling an all-nighter), I recall, they added that he had landed safely!<br /><br />I remember the night Sputnik I went up, as my Grandmother called to tell me! My first thought was that if they could orbit a satellite, they probably could launch an ICBM (though I wasn't sure if they had solved the re-entry problem). I was in high school then. Don't think I saw Sputnik I, but when they launched Sputnik II with Laika, the dog, I remember my Dad pulling the car over on the Outer Drive in Chicago, and we got out and watched the booster wink slowly on and off (it was tumbling)! Wow! What a sight! Also saw Echo I.<br /><br />The most...stimulating...sighting was when Gherman Titov flew over Florida in the summer of 1961. I was working as a summer hire on a military missile program, and was at the pool at the Holiday Inn motel in Cocoa Beach. There were a lot of engineers there, probably from MacDonnel and you never saw such a bunch of angry people! We hadn't gotten Gus Grissom launched yet...I think! And here was the SECOND #$%^&* Russian flying overhead...in ORBIT, no less!<br /><br />I remember only ONE duck-and-cover drill when I was in grade school, probably about 1952. South Side of Chicago, and they had us go out in the hall, away from the windows. Crouched down by the lockers. More impressive were the Nike-Ajax and, later, the Nike-Hercules batteries located along the Lake Shore.<br /><br />"In the military we trained through various nuclear war scenarios and the difference between serious burns, death from debris, blindless, lethal radiation sickness, and so on is little more than a variation on duck and cover."<br /><br />Don't remember any specific duck-and-cover drills in the military. I do recall when we entered a Min

 

[vogon13]

I'm sure I was potty trained at that point, but probably not at the burning up ants with a magnifying glass stage yet.<br /><br /><br /><img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /><br /><br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#ff0000"><strong>TPTB went to Dallas and all I got was Plucked !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#339966"><strong>So many people, so few recipes !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>Let's clean up this stinkhole !!</strong></font> </p> </div>

 

[lampblack]

<font color="yellow">Don't think I saw Sputnik I, but when they launched Sputnik II with Laika, the dog, I remember my Dad pulling the car over on the Outer Drive in Chicago, and we got out and watched the booster wink slowly on and off (it was tumbling)! Wow! What a sight! Also saw Echo I.</font><br /><br />That poor dog...<br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font color="#0000ff"><strong>Just tell the truth and let the chips fall...</strong></font> </div>